Social skills are one of the areas a child with Autism will have the most trouble in. It is an area a lot of people have problems with but when you complicate it with the communication deficits it is even more difficult. Social skills are a combination of verbal and non-verbal cues which require interpretation.
Children with Autism have problems with communication and do not even seem to realize that there are social rules. When you figure social rules change for different environments and different people it is even more confusing. Another consideration is that different social skills work better for different people.
Then there is the whole issue of non-verbal communication. Typical people can tell by the tone of a voice or the look on someone’s face whether they are sincere, cynical, or making fun of a person. This is extremely difficult to teach a child with Autism.
There are different techniques that can and are successfully used to teach people with autism the social rules. There are also different ways to teach social skills. Many people with Autism can and do learn the way to navigate through these situations. Techniques, to compensate for the lack of non-verbal understanding, is also a possibility for parents and professionals that work with children with Autism.
The important thing to keep in mind is that what may seem like cruelty by other children may be a lack of understanding about this deficit. What may seem like our child’s unwillingness to cooperate may be a lack of social skills. Even more important it may be the need for very structured lessons in social skills.
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Mylinda Elliott is the parent of five children. The third of the five has Autism which was diagnosed early on. The fourth of the five children has Aspergers. She is a self taught expert on Autism Spectrum Disorders. Mylinda Elliott has also worked professionally in the disability world for the past fifteen years. She is considered the “Go To” woman for advice or resources on disabilities.
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